bogus
adjective | BOH-gus
Definition
: not genuine : counterfeit, sham
You may know bogus as a slang word meaning "uncool" or simply "no good," but did you know that bogus has
actually been a part of English since the early 1800s? Not only was the word coined then, it was actually doing some coining of its own,
so to speak. Back then, a bogus was a machine used to make counterfeit coins. No one knows for sure how this coin-copying
contraption got its name, but before long bogus had also become a popular noun for funny money itself or for a fraudulent imitation of
any kind. The more general "phony" adjective began being used about the same time.
I thought I knew a lot of numismatic words, but I didn't know that one. Can anyone point us to a contemporary example of the use of
the word in this context? What did a bogus look like? -Editor